Democratic National Convention

So, I was listening to the talking heads on CNN do their color commentary on the opening night of the Democratic National Convention.

The convention got off to a slow start with all of the business of roll calls and voting for things. Then Senator Ted Kennedy and his niece (JFK's daughter) Caroline Kennedy spoke, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house...(In case you don't know about this stuff, he is a senior senator, kind of a big deal -- a "you either love him or hate him" kind of guy -- and he has brain cancer. Even his enemies -- if they have a human heart beating in their body -- are moved by the inevitable end of his life and his long, controversial career in government. And the pundits seemed to like that part of the convention.

Then some more academic speakers got up. There is some cross pollination at the conventions, and a Republican was speaking -- I'm ashamed to admit that I can't remember his name, but we could all look it up easily enough. Anyway, he was giving some background, some context, some history.

OH. MY. GOD. The CNN pundits and James Carvel went INSANE bagging on this guy and on the convention organizers, saying things like "Oh. Terrible! This is not good TV. We only have the American people for an hour or so. Americans have short attention spans. They need to stir up some controversy. They need to go after the Bush presidency. The gloves have got to come off. What is this? It's so dry. It's so boring. It's so unsexy. When is Michelle Obama coming on? Will she be able to save this night? Oh dear. This is bad strategy. I can't believe they're wasting time like this."

Neil Postman was rolling in his grave. Right there, my young charges, is a great example of the big serious mainstream media caving in to and perpetuating a force in America that is making dummies of us all. The media was calling for show business. The way they continued to characterize the speakers as boring, dull, and lifeless -- and criticizing the organizers for not putting on a big "dog and pony show" -- they've even gone so far as to openly refer to the convention by that pejorative term! -- well, the whole thing was disgusting. My argument today is not with the convention or our political process -- admittedly problematic and a subject of another post, perhaps -- my argument is with SERIOUS MAINSTREAM MEDIA PUNDITS. By characterizing something as boring, as bad strategy, they ARE MAKING THE STORY, instead of reporting on the story.